Wind worked funnel



March 29, 1966 c. MORTARINO WIND WORKED FUNNEL Filed May 5, 1964 CARLO MORTARINO INVENTOR.

BY d a/uo 0 United States Patent 3,242,893 WIND WORKED FUNNEL Carlo Mortarino, 49 Via Madama Cristina, Turin, Italy Filed May 5, 1964, Ser. No. 364,915 Claims. (Cl. 114187) The present invention is related to a wind-operated stack which is characterized by the ability to shelter specific areas or zones beneath the discharge point of products of combustion from the smoke or other harmful gaseous dispersions and yet to encompass the largest possible field of relative wind direction.

The problem of unprotected stack discharges occurs particularlyon ships where astern of the stack there grows a whirling air wave which causes the products of combustion to lose altitude and to precipitate on the decks, especially on the promenade decks, solid particles, soiling equipment and passengers alike, while the harmful gases are directly breathed and, if descending as low as the air inlets level, may be even carried into the air-conditioned rooms, especially into the engine room, making life less pleasant for the crew working therein.

Many devices have been brought forth, heretofore, particularly for ships, in order to avoid these serious inconveniences. In the case of ships, it has been attempted to make use of the dynamic pressure of the relative wind by means of piping having openings towards the bow and diverging high up, for the purpose of obtaining a smoke draught; other methods adopted anomalous positions of the engine rooms, and still others have equipped the normal tower stacks with more or less large wings arranged near the top thereof.

Stacks have also been devised which may be drawn out during navigation and forced ventilation plants have been installed which dilute the emitted gases with considerable expense in energy and installation of elevated machines which cause a troublesome chatter in the upper deck rooms, which as is well known are the most suitable and desirable as living quarters.

The direct results of the continuous attempts in this field clearly show how serious this problem is and how inadequate the solutions heretofore found are.

In many previous attempts, great importance was generally and erroneously given solely or almost solely to the relative wind direction from bow to stern. While the normal navigational conditions are such that the relative Wind blows laterally to the Ships motion, the conditions of the ship at port are quite important, nevertheless the problem of soot dispersal should be overcome.

It is therefore the main object of this invention to resolve all, if not most of the above-mentioned inconveniences, which are well known to the experts. In accordance with the invention, the stack collects all of the harmful gas discharges (emitted by a factory, a land vehicle, or a ship) and, while exploiting the wind action (natural or due, wholly or partly, to the vehicle motion), secures their harmless dispersion into the atmosphere, preventing thus any harmful gases from entering areas, which, because of the particular use for which they are intended, must be kept clean and exposed only to fresh air.

The stack of the present invention has the essential characteristic features described hereinbelow. Firstly, the elements above the deck where the stack rises must be limited to those which have a specific predetermined function, that is to say, those which sufficiently cover the smoke pipings. These should preferably be already joined so as to form a single circular piping system. This reduces the size and the intensity of the air waves which are created underneath the tight-wall casings.

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These waves give rise to a pressure gradient towards the deck where the stack is located and the smoke entering the wave turns always downward on the deck, even if the stack is very small in diameter and reaches heights which are now no longer acceptable. The height of the outlet of the stack or stacks of a ship is related directly to the general requirements of the ship.

Secondly, an aerodynamic body should be arranged at the terminus of the smoke or harmful gas piping. This aerodynamic body, due to the relative wind, causes a dispersing action which prevents the smoke from entering the air-wave, as explained hereabove, which stops underneath the smoke pipings. This aerodynamic body, which is gas-tight but structurally independent of other structures, so as to allow for heat expansion, is connected to the smoke piping or pipings, and has a considerably large surface, related approximately to the relative wind lying, orthogonally to which the axis of the pipings is. The surface requirements of the headstack are dependent, along with its shape, on the intensity of the aerodynamic and perturbing effects caused by the ship; on the existence of additional stacks, and their height, and on the differences in the level of the outlet zones.

Thirdly, pipings and supports should be constructed so as to allow the fresh air to flow as freely as possible between the areas to be shelter and the stack-head regardless of any wind direction. As a matter of fact, when all the corrective measures, such as the position or height of the stack, have been adopted, the necessary surface grows larger, the larger the aerodynamic encumbrance of the structures between the deck and the stack-head becomes. The smoke piping size, especially, and the size of the stack-head supports should be controlled, because their function is to be reduced to the smallest possible aerodynamic encumbrance and to form a framework of pipes and pipe-crossings in uniformity and agreement with the rules found to be effective in the application to aerodynamic structures. The invention may be more clearly understood from the detailed description of the two embodiments thereof, relative to a ship with two stacks (FIGURES 1 and 2), and a ship with a single stack (FIGURES 3 and 4) In the accompanying drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a side view of a ship with two stacks I or funnels of the type in question;

FIGURE 2 is a perspective and enlarged view of the stacks of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a perspective partial view of another stack or funnel of the same type for a single-stack or single-funnel ship; and

FIGURE 4 is a schematic view, in enlarged scale, of only one end of the stack of FIGURE 3.

With reference now to FIGURES 1 and 2, numeral 1 indicates the ship body whereupon the stacks or funnels 2 and 3 rise.

The upper part of stacks 2 and 3, corresponding to the gases discharge outlet, is equipped with substantially flat surfaces 4 and 5, which are arranged in a substantially orthogonal direction with respect to the stacks axes.

These flat surfaces cause a dispersing action which forces the mid-path of the discharged gases to be lifted and prevents them from entering the air-wave which course flows underneath the smoke piping or pipings.

These surfaces 4 and 5 are supported by supports 6 and 7 (FIGURE 2) which rise directly from the upper deck 8.

The flat surfaces 4 and 5 are so constructed as to serve their purpose regardless of the direction of the wind in relation to the ships motion, and protection is thus afforded in most possible cases both during navigation and at moo-ring.

It is possible to shift termini 99 and 10-10 of the flat surfaces 4 and to rectify, during mooring or also during normal navigation, the action of the main surface relative to the varying wind conditions.

Another example applicable to a ship with only one stack is given in FIGURES 3 and 4.

With reference to FIGURES 3 and 4, numeral 11 is the upper ship body where the smoke piping 12 rises. At its lower part, the piping is surrounded by a casing 13 which cover the pipes and sends the spent and unusable air to the outside through the ring opening 14.

Corresponding to the upper end of the smoke piping 12 there is the stack-head 15 in accordance with the invention, which head comprises two plates 16 and 17 of a substantially circular shape. The connection of plates 16 and 17 to each other and the resulting intrinsic strength are due to the presence of a stiffening element 18.

The stack-head 15 is supported by supports 19, which have a circular cross-section (a circular cross-section gives an almost steady drag, sufficiently low for any wind direction), and are connected in pairs to the stack-head and to the deck 11, respectively.

As shown in FIGURE 4, the two plates 16 and 17 (which form the stack-head) together with the stiffening elements result in a chamber 20, and if a removable plate 22 is arranged over the exhaust outlet, the smoke is compelled to follow the roundabout path shown by the arrows and will leave any entrained solid particles in the chamber 20, which has to be washed now and then by means of water spouts or pipes 23. The water from the spouts will be discharged through lines 24 thus resulting in an effective cleansing of the entrained solid particles left by the exhaust.

The stack-head in turn, with its dispersal action prevents whirling air-waves from occurring behind the stack, so that the exhaust gases are not going to be collected downwards, and the decks are not soiled, while the air inlets 25 can draw fresh air devoided of any harmful constituent.

The shape and the arrangement of the stack-head depend on the stack volumetric, output on the wind direction and velocity which act upon the stack, and On the location of the areas to be sheltered from the exhaust.

The essential features of the stack-head of the invention may be summarized as follows: (1) All pipings which collect harmful gases should, preferably be connected into a single piping. On the other hand, it may be preferable and/or possible to shelter more than one piping with a second additional stack-head laid upon the first one; (2) a large surface lying parallel to the wind should be obtained; (3) stack-head supports having the smallest aerodynamic encumbrance should be utilized, so as to allow the fresh air to flow freely between the areas to be sheltered and the stack-head, regardless of wind direction; (4) the stack-head .may optionally be provided with a rather high inner chamber, as much as five feet high, which height allows the formation of a smoke arrestor and the deposition of entrained solid particles, such as soot; and (5) the soot-collecting chamber may be directly cleaned of the deposits thus avoiding the use of heavy dust and soot separators, which are cumbersome and most inadequate, because they must be located far from the stack outlet.

The stack-head is different from the aerodynamic body of an aeroplanes wings, both because of shifting in wind direction, of the strong effects of the aerodynamic field caused by the moving ship, and the presence of additional stacks.

In the cast of land-based factories the effects caused by the ground and by the buildings on it are quite important.

This invention aims to exploit the action of the aerodynamic dispersion, so as to rectify the stack air wave (already reduced to the lowest possible level) with respect to any possible change in direction of the natural or motion-caused wind.

I claim:

1. Wind-worked smokestack capable of protecting predetermined areas from soot, smoke and other harmful gases, which comprises a plurality of substantially vertical exhaust conduits within said smokestack, a substantially flat-surfaced stack-head on the upper terminus *of said smokestack, and plurality of cross-sectionally, preferably circular, supports for supporting said stack-head, said stack-head having movable plates to rectify the direction of the exhaust in accordance with wind directional shifts.

2. The smokestack of claim 1 wherein said plurality of exhaust conduits are so connected with one another so as to form a single terminal conduit.

3. Ship wind-worked funnel capable of protecting predetermined deck areas from soot, smoke and other harmful gases which comprises a plurality of substantially vertical exhaust conduits within said funnel, a substantially flat-surfaced stack-head on the upper terminus of said funnel and a plurality of cross-sectionally, aerodynamically shaped supports for said stack-head, said stack-head having movable plates to rectify the direction of the exhaust in accordance with wind directional shifts.

4. Wind-worked smokestack capable of protecting predetermined areas from soot, smoke and other harmful gases, which comprises a plurality of substantially vertical exhaust conduits within said smokestack, a substantially flat-surfaced stack-head on the upper terminus of the smokestack, and plurality of cross-sectionally, preferably circular, supports for supporting said stack-head, said stack-head comprising two plates preferably circular in shape and connected to each other by a plurality of stiffening elements positioned therebetween, said two plates and said stiffening elements forming, in combination with a third plate arranged over said exhaust conduits, a chamber, said chamber compelling the exhaust gases to follow a roundabout path and to deposit in said chamber particles entrained therein.

5. The Smokestack of claim 4 wherein said chamber is further provided with at least one spout for washing off said entrained particles collected in said chamber.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,537,091 1/1951 Rodman et a1 9860 2,646,764 7/1953 Lascroux 114187 3,066,595 12/1962 Le Quec 114-187 MILTON BUCHLER, Primary Examiner.

ANDREW H, FARRELL, FERGUS S. MIDDLETON, Examiners. 

1. WIND-WORKED SMOKESTACK CAPABLE OF PROTECTING PREDETERMINED ARMS FROM SOOT, SMOKE AND OTHER HARMFUL GASES, WHICH COMPRISES A PLURALITY OF SUBSTANTIALLY VERTICAL EXHAUST CONDUITS WITHIN SAID SMOKESTACK, A SUBSTANTIALLY FLAT-SURFACED STACK-HEAD ON THE UPPER TERMINUS OF SAID SMOKESTACK, AND PLURALITY OF CROSS-SECTIONALLY, PREFERABLY CIRCULAR, SUPPORTS FOR SUPPORTING SAID STACK-HEAD, SAID STACK-HEAD HAVING MOVABLE PLATES TO RECTIFY THE DIRECTION OF THE EXHAUST IN ACCORDANCE WITH WIND DIRECTIONAL SHIFTS. 